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Kevin Drummond, a student at Loyola, stated that the inclusion of Kool-Aid made her feel “uncomfortable.”

“There was no need for (Dining Services) to pull out purple Kool-Aid and serve that and pass that off as part of an African American cuisine,” she told the school newspaper. “I felt like it was disrespectful.”

Another student believed that the sign was “disrespectful,” but shouldn’t be a cause for hysteria.

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“I think it’s disrespectful on a level because they pulled out the stereotypical meals, but it could have been worse,” he stated.

A third student revealed to The Loyola Phoenix that the sign wasn’t offensive to him.

“Personally, I don’t find it damaging in any kind of way,” Keion Humphrey said. “How are you supposed to diversify yourself and your background if you are not being exposed to different things?”

He added: “Labeling something as ‘African American cuisine’ isn’t the best way of doing it, but who is it hurting?”

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The backlash from some students on campus ultimately led the university to post an apology on the Dine Loyola Facebook page.

“One of our core values is integrity and respect always,” the statement began.

“While the intention of the onsite team was not to offend patrons, we fully recognize that the execution of the promotion was done in an insensitive way,” the apology continued.

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The university assured readers that the incident was “isolated” and they would work to “retrain” all staff members.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the sign was removed by an Aramark employee after rumblings of student disapproval began surfacing.

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